Tubing and sucker rod fishing socket



.Fan; 5, 1937.

F. J. HIN DERLITER TUBING AND SU CKER ROD FISHING SOCKET Filed May 29, 1933 Ryan 2.2-

Patented Jan. 5, 1937 UNITED srrg TUBING AND SUCKER ROD FISHING V SOCKET "This invention relates to a fishing tool adapted "to be used in connection with the drilling of an oil well and more particularly to a tubing and sucker rod fishing socket.

*5 An object of this invention is to provide an improved tubing and sucker rod fishing socket and which is adapted to respond more readily to the conditions to which it may be exposed in a well than the fishing sockets of heretofore.

' "1 Another objectof this invention is to provide a socket of the aforementioned character which is not only adapted to readily grip the object to be retrieved from the well but in addition thereto is adapted to be initially used in guiding and I camming the object into the bore of the socket.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a socket of the aforementioned character and of a highly simplified construction. I A still further object of the invention resides 2 in the provision of an improved wedging means for use in a socket of the above noted character. In accordance with the general features of this invention there is provided a socket having a longitudinal bore and in whichbore there is 5 slidably disposed a plurality of wedging means for selectively engaging tubing sucker rods and the like. The lower end of the socket has an opening through which the object to bev retrieved is adapted to enter the bore and the upper end 30 of the bore is disposed in communication with a lateral opening through which the wedge means may be introduced in the bore of the socket.

Another feature of the invention relates to the provision of an eccentric mouth at the lower end "35 of the socket, whichupon rotation of the socket is adapted to guidingly cam the tubing or rod into alignment with the longitudinal bore of the socket. V

A further feature of the invention relates to 40 the provision of means at the upper end of the bore for preventing upward accidental displacement of the wedge means from the socket. .A still futher feature of the invention has to do with the provision of a two-part wedging de 45 vice, one part of which is guidingly supported in the bore of the socket and the other part of which is pivotally connected to the first mentioned part and resiliently urged downwardly relative thereto into a position in which it is readily adapted to 50 engage sucker rods or the like as the latter enters the bore of the socket.

Still another feature of the invention relates to theprovision of oppositely disposed upwardly diverging surfaces in the interior of the socket,

58 one of which surfaces is disposed for association with the Wedge means and the other of which is disposed for association with the object to be retrieved and wedgingly gripped in the socket.

Other objects and features of this invention; will more fully appear from the following de- 5 tailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing which illustrates a single embodiment thereof, and in which 7 Figure 1 is a vertical sectional View of my sock- 1; et, partly in elevation, and showing in dotted 10 lines the manner in which the wedging means are adapted to engage tubing sucker rods and the like.

Figure 2 is a front elevation of the device shown 1 in Figure 1. i

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line III--III of Figure 1 looking downwardly.

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line IV--IV of Figure 1 looking downwardly. H

Figure 5 is across-sectional view taken on the line VV of Figure 1 looking downwardly.

Figurefi is a cross-sectional View taken on the line VIVI of Figure 1 looking downwardly.

The reference character it designates general- 1y a cylindrical member having a longitudinal bore i l in which there is slidably disposed wedging devices i2 and E3. The extreme upper end of the member it terminates in a threaded pin it for connection in the usual way to a string of pipe tobe lowered in a well for a fishing operation. The upper end of the bore ll terminates in a lateral opening 55 through which the wedge devices l2 and it are adapted to be inserted into the interior of the member l9.

In order to prevent upward accidental displacement of the wedge devices from the bore I! there is provided a transverse pin l6 which spans the opening i5 as'best shown in Figures 1 and 2. This pin I6 is: slidably carried in the member i0 so that it may be removed when it is desired to 40 remove one or both of the wedge devices l2 and The lower end of the member i0 is provided with an enlarged eccentric opening I! in com- 7 munication with the lower end of the bore H. Also the extreme lower end of the member I0 is cut off in a slanting or diagonal plane as indicated at it. This flared open end of the member ill is adapted upon rotation of the socket member to guidingly cam the tubing or rod into alignment with the bore i I so that the socket 1 member is may thereafter-glee passed downwardly and a flattened broken off tube 23 adapted to be engaged by the wedge device E2. of course it is to be understood that my novel wedging means [2 is adapted to equally well engage broken sucker rods and the like. The reason two wedging devices are provided is so that one device may accommodate objects of relatively large diameter such as tubing and so that another device may accommodate objects of smaller diameter such for example as flattened tubing, sucker rods and the like. The two wedging devices l2 and i3 are slidably carried on a key strip 2 3 detachably secured by bolts 25 to the wall of the member IE6. This strip 24 is disposed over an upwardly and outwardly inclined interior surface 27 of the member ll]. It should also be noted at this time that the opposite side of the member E6 is also inclined as indicated at 28. Thus there is provided two upwardly and outwardly inclined or diverging surfaces 21 and 28 in the interior of the member Ill.

The advantage of tapering the surface 28 resides in the fact that when the pipe, rod or tubing is wedgingly forced toward this surface, the former may be slightly deflected outwardly in the bore I I of the member Ii] so as to enhance the gripping action of the socket on the object to be retrieved.

The wedging device l3, as best shown in Figures 1 and 5, is transversely curved so as to conform with the cross-sectional curvatLue of the bore H and is provided on its interior surface with teeth 38 for biting into an object to be retrieved, such, for example, as the pipe or tube l9 indicated in dotted lines in Figure l.

The wedging device I?) is adapted to abut a shoulder 3! formed in the lower end of the socket as best shown in Figures 1 and 6. This shoulder is disposed at the lower end of the key 24 and serves to prevent the wedge devices from falling out of the socket.

The Wedging device l2 when in its lowermost position as shown in Figure l is adapted to rest on top of the wedging device I3. The detail construction of the wedging device I2 is clearly shown in Figures 1, 3 and 4. It comprises two elements, 33 and 3d, the former of which is slidably disposed on the key strip 28 and the latter of which is pivotally connected at 35 to the former. The element 34 is at all times urged away from the element 33 by means of an intermediate spring 36 which is clearly shown in Figures 1 and 3. Also, the element 34 is provided with wedge or gripping teeth 3'! adapted to bite into the object, such as the flattened and broken on tubing 25 shown in dotted lines in Figure 1. This element 34 is normally disposed in an in clined position as shown in Figure 1, so that upon the entry of the object in the well it will strike the teeth 31 of this element, thus forcing the element 34 toward the element 33 and against the tension of the spring (it.

It will of course be evident that, after the object to be retrieved is in the socket, by reason of the socket being lowered downwardly over the object, this object will be engaged by either of the wedging devices l2 or 13 depending upon the thickness or diameter of the object. In order to wedgingly secure the object to the socket, it is only necessary to pull the socket upwardly in the well, whereby the teeth of the corresponding wedging device are caused to bite into the object to wedgingly anchor it to the socket member l0. Either or both of the wedge devices i2 and I3 may be employed depending upon the character of the fishing operation.

I am aware that many changes may be made and numerous details of construction may be varied through a wide range without departing from the principles of this invention, and I, therefore, do not purpose limiting the patent granted hereon otherwise than necessitated by the prior art.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a fishing tool, a socket having a longitudinal bore therein and an opening at its lower end through which an object to be retrieved may enter said bore, said socket also having an upper opening into said bore and a wall of said bore between said openings sloping inwardly and downwardly from said upper opening, a keyway on said wall, a pair of separate wedging members slidably disposable on said keyway through said upper opening, one of said members being toothed, the other of said members being toothless, and a toothed element carried by said toothless member and movable laterally thereto, said toothed element extending inwardly beyond said toothed member.

2. In a fishing tool, a socket having a longitudinal bore therein one wall of which is upwardly and outwardly inclined, a keyway on said wall, and a plurality of separate wedging members slidably associated with said keyway and movable therealong relatively to each other, one of said members projecting inwardly beyond the remainder of said members to provide a plurality of holding points on an object varying in size, a laterally pivotal part carried by one of said members, and means disposed between said pivotal part and its carrying member to normally urge said pivotal part inwardly towards the wall opposite said keyway.

3. In a fishing tool including a body having a bore therein for the reception of an article to be retrieved, gripping means in said bore and slidably associated with said body along an inclined wall, said gripping means including a pair of members pivoted together and arranged to present oppositely facing biting and sliding surfaces.

4. In a fishing tool including a body having a bore therein for the reception of an article to be retrieved, gripping means slidably disposed in said bore along an inclined track and including a pair of members pivotally held together and arranged to present oppositely facing biting and tracking surfaces, the arrangement being such as to permit relative movement between said surfaces.

5. In a fishing tool including a body having a bore therein for the reception of an article to be retrieved, gripping means slidably disposed in the bore of the body along an inclined track and 1 comprising a pair of members pivotally connected to provide relative movement therebetween about a common point, said members being arranged to present oppositely facing biting and tracking surfaces.

6. In a fishing tool including a body having a bore therein for the reception of an article to be retrieved, gripping means in said bore and slidably associated with said body along an inclined track, said gripping means including a pair of members pivoted together and arranged to present oppositely facing biting and tracking surfaces, one of said surfaces being on each memher, and means disposed between said members normally tending to spread said members apart about, their pivot connection.

'7. In a fishing tool including a body having a bore therein for the reception of an article to be retrieved, gripping members in said bore slidable in unison along an inclined guideway'and arrangedin lateral juxtaposition, the inner member having a gripping surface thereon, and said members being laterally movable relatively to 10 each other.

8. In a fishing tool including a body having a bore therein for the reception of an article to be retrieved, gripping members in said bore slidable in unison along an inclined guideway and arranged in lateral juxtaposition, the inner member having a gripping surface thereon, and said members being laterally movable relatively to each other, and means associated with said members to normally urge them apart.

FRANK J. HINDERLITER. 

